WEBVTT - Are We Running Out of Cork?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogle Bomb here. You may or may not have

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<v Speaker 1>heard a rumor that the world supply of cork is dwindling. Cork,

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<v Speaker 1>which is made from the bark of the cork oak

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<v Speaker 1>tree or querk asu bear, is used in a variety

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<v Speaker 1>of products, the most common being wine stoppers. So is

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<v Speaker 1>there any truth behind the idea that we're running out

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<v Speaker 1>of cork? Not at all. There's actually an abundance of

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<v Speaker 1>this totally sustainable, eco friendly material. In fact, if you've

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<v Speaker 1>ever traveled to the rural areas of southern Portugal, where

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<v Speaker 1>most of the world's cork oak trees are grown, you've

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<v Speaker 1>seen firsthand that the supposed shortage of the cork supply

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<v Speaker 1>is a myth. Insiders in the cork industry, which employs

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<v Speaker 1>and estimated thirty thousand workers in varied jobs, confirmed that

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<v Speaker 1>there are plenty of cork oak trees to be found

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<v Speaker 1>in the sustainable and environmentally harvested cork forests of Portugal.

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<v Speaker 1>Regular planting in shores continuous and steady supply, but the

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<v Speaker 1>process requires some patients. A newly planted cork oak trees

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<v Speaker 1>need on average more than twenty five years of growth

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<v Speaker 1>before their bark can first be harvested. Farmers must then

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<v Speaker 1>wait another nine or ten years until the trees fully

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<v Speaker 1>recover and are ready to have their outer bark layer

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<v Speaker 1>harvested again. This approach yield a high quality raw material

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<v Speaker 1>while enabling the trees to live about three hundred years.

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<v Speaker 1>The takeaway there are said to be enough cork trees

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<v Speaker 1>today in the sustainable cork forests of Portugal to last

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<v Speaker 1>more than a hundred years. Translation, there's enough harvestable cork

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<v Speaker 1>right this very moment to seal all of the wine

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<v Speaker 1>bottles produced in the world for the coming century. So

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<v Speaker 1>what led to the rumor that the world is running out?

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<v Speaker 1>In nine the Portuguese government began to protect the cork

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<v Speaker 1>tree by law from improper or out of season harvest

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<v Speaker 1>because officials were worried the developers would clear out the

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<v Speaker 1>cork forests to build. To stop this from happening, the

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<v Speaker 1>government declared the cork oak tree endangered at that time.

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<v Speaker 1>But more recently, something that might have fueled the rumble

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<v Speaker 1>about a cork shortage or that cork is endangered and

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<v Speaker 1>at risk of extinction, is that many companies in the

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<v Speaker 1>wine industry began switching from traditional cork stoppers to plastic

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<v Speaker 1>corks and screw caps. The reason a cork is much

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<v Speaker 1>more expensive compared with the alternatives because it can be

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<v Speaker 1>harvested only once a year by skilled farmers. Plus, using

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<v Speaker 1>plastic or screw cap alternatives to cork pretty much removes

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<v Speaker 1>the danger of losing wine due to cork rot. That's

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<v Speaker 1>when natural cork starts falling apart and let's air into

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<v Speaker 1>the wine bottle, which can ruin the wine. And that's

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<v Speaker 1>really one of the two things you're supposed to be

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<v Speaker 1>looking for when a server pours you. The first taste

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<v Speaker 1>of a bottle at first, is it the bottle you ordered? Second?

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<v Speaker 1>Is at vinegar instead of wine. The changeover to cork

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<v Speaker 1>alternatives started happening in force in the nine nineties, but

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<v Speaker 1>wineries had to convince people and wine drinkers in particul

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<v Speaker 1>ler that it would be more beneficial to use the

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<v Speaker 1>plastic corks or screw caps to seal wine bottles rather

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<v Speaker 1>than cork stoppers. It's possible that some wineries began insinuating

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<v Speaker 1>that cork is endangered so that more people might be

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<v Speaker 1>willing to choose wines sealed with screw caps. The truth

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<v Speaker 1>is the cork tree is not endangered, and because some

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<v Speaker 1>winters prefer screw caps for various reasons, that's actually led

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<v Speaker 1>to a decrease in demand for cork wine stoppers. So

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<v Speaker 1>there's actually an abundance of cork and cork oak trees.

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<v Speaker 1>And here's the cool part. That abundance has opened up

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<v Speaker 1>a world of opportunity for the impermeable, lightweight, and moisture

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<v Speaker 1>resistant material. Today, cork handbags and wallets are becoming popular

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<v Speaker 1>leather alternatives, and cork is also used in flooring, shoes

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<v Speaker 1>and other vegan accessories. Today's episode was written by Windy

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<v Speaker 1>Bowman and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is production

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<v Speaker 1>of iHeart Radios How Stuff Works. For more on this

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<v Speaker 1>and lots of other plentiful topics, visit our home planet

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